When the 3 original Wailing
Wailers split up in 1974, Bob, Peter and Bunny started solo careers.
Bunny had created 2 labels in 1972: Solomonic and Intel Diplo (that
stands for Intelligent Diplomat). Peter chose Intel Diplo, leaving
Solomonic for Bunny. Bob kept the Tuff Gong label. After 1974, all
the records released on those labels were solo efforts and everyone
thought the original Wailers had split up for real. That was the
case officially, but it is little known that Bob, Peter and Bunny
would record and play together again like in the old days. There
has never been a real separation, Wailers can't die!
For
instance, in 1974 they played 2 shows in Kingston, featuring Wailers tracks
as well as solo tracks. And in 1975, a one-off event took place. Bob,
Peter and Bunny decided to perform together again. This unique concert,
known as the Wailers reunion show, was the last chance to see the three
of them play together onstage. It was split in 4 short sets: the first
one was dedicated to original Wailers material (Rastaman chant, Nice time,
Simmer down, One love). This first set was followed by 3 solo sets: Bunny
played Dreamland and Battering down
sentence, Peter then played Mark
of the beast, Legalize it and You can't blame the youth. The final
set was Bob's: So Jah seh, No woman no cry and Jah live were played. But
this does not end here. In 1978, when Bob played in Burbank, CA, Peter
was backstage. As Bob started to sing the Wailers' classic Get
up stand up, Peter joined him onstage to sing his part of the song,
just like on "Burning" in the good old days. Finally, in December
1982, Bunny played his first solo show at the Youth Consciousness Festival
in Kingston. Peter and Bunny (with Judy Mowatt and Jimi Cliff) performed
No woman no cry together.
It is interesting to note that
after "Burning", the last official Wailers album, Bob and Peter
appeared on "Blackheart man", Bunny's first solo album. Bob
and Bunny also appeared on "Legalize it", this time Peter's
first solo album. Also, both album were recorded with the Wailers band,
with whom Bob would continue to play until he passed away. Bunny and Peter
collaborated again on several other occasions. They would see each other
very often in Jamaica, Bob being away for long periods when he was intensively
touring. For instance, it was Peter who supplied the melodica track on
Anti Apartheid, an instrumental version
of Armagedion that Bunny released on his Solomonic label in 1977. And
it was Bunny who supplied that scary scream at the begining of Vampire,
that Peter released on Intel Diplo in 1977. While he was touring in the
USA in 1980, Bob was interviewed by Anita Walters at the Essex House hotel
in New York. Here is an interesting excerpt of the interview:
AW: Who is your favorite reggae singer?
BM: My favorite reggae singer is Bunny Wailer. He's the only singer who
sing things all the while. All the rest of them people are pure jokers.
Yeah! Well, them a joker. Bunny Wailer is the only many you can take up
him song and realize that he's dealing with something all the while. Most
people skank it out.
AW: Do you ever play together with Bunny?
BM: Long time no play together.
AW: He's still making good music.
BM: Yeah.
As Bunny would say: "Wailers
is a family thing". It is literally true, there are even family
relationships between each member of the original trio. And they
can't die. Bunny is the one who preserves the spirit and music of
the original Wailers. It all started in 1981 when he released his
album "Bunny Wailer sings the Wailers", an album of recuts
of Wailers tracks recorded originally in the 60's. A few years later,
it was Bunny who initiated the "Never Ending Wailers"
project: the concept was to involve the remaining members of the
original Wailers to rework on old Wailers songs and create a new
Wailers album, using overdubs to give it a modern feel. Bunny and
Peter found themselves in a recording studio working together again,
probably the last time they worked together until Peter passed away.
Thanks to Bunny, the Wailers live on. They are still there.
Everytime Bunny is on tour, a part of the show is dedicated to Bob and
Peter, as a tribute to them (check Legalize
it and Crazy baldheads
played at Red Rocks in 2000). Bunny even played with the sons of Bob
(Kymani, Ziggy,...) and Peter (Andrew), as it was the case recently.